Kyle Armbrust

Photographer: Shervin Lainez

Has played with The Knights since: 1999.

Favorite Knights moment: early Bargemusic concerts with too many people on stage! Those concerts were ELECTRIC. Also Ravinia 2012. So much fun.

Kyle Armbrust started playing the viola at age three. Since giving his New York solo debut with Kurt Masur and the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, he has created a multi-dimensional career performing and recording a wide range of music. The New York Times has described him as “assured, brilliant, and stylish,” and the New York Post called him “musically mature, technically sound.” As soloist, Kyle has performed with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Lake George Chamber Orchestra, Musica Bella Orchestra, and Woodstock Festival Orchestra.

An active proponent of contemporary music, Kyle has worked closely with Philippe Bigar, Elliot Carter, Mario Davidovsky, Jonathan Dawe, Osvaldo Golijov, Steve Reich, and Charles Wuorinen, among others. He performs regularly with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Argento Ensemble. Kyle’s dedication to chamber music has led to festival appearances at Aix en Provence, Caramoor, Charlottesville, La Jolla Summerfest, Marlboro, Monadnock, Moritzburg, Ravinia, Schleswig Holstein, Stillwater, and Verbier. He has performed at Bargemusic, the Gardner Museum, Freer Gallery, New York Yacht Club, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Thurnauer Chamber Music Society. In 2005 Kyle performed the Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Orion Weiss at the Neue Galerie. Kyle has also worked with Herbie Hancock, Lauryn Hill, Mya, Sufjan Stevens, Sting, and made an appearance on the TV show “30 Rock.”

In addition to his other activities, Kyle is currently principal viola of the Westchester Philharmonic, a member of The Knights, and a substitute member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. He served as Assistant Principal Viola of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2011, and in 2012 joined the Lucerne Festival Orchestra with Claudio Abbado in Switzerland and on tour in Austria, Russia, Germany, and Italy.

Kyle received his B.M., M.M., and Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Michael Tree. He has recorded for Ancalagon, Cedille, Interscope, Naxos, Ondine, and SONY. Kyle plays a Carlo Antonio Testore viola made in Milan in 1752. He has lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since 1999.